Category Archives: Jim Bell’s Wokingham History

Jim Bell is a well known researcher and writer of many aspects of Wokingham’s history. This category offers excerpts and often complete texts from books he has written over the past decade.

Where They Lived

For me, this is possibly the most fascinating and the saddest part of the research. Once we discovered the stories of the men, we started pinning their addresses to a modern map of Wokingham. Although we suspected that they would … Continue reading

Posted in Aspects of War, Jim Bell's Wokingham History, Story of Wokingham | 2 Comments

Wokingham 1914

Wokingham news  throughout 1914   Jim Bell transcribes the Wokingham news section from the Reading Mercury throughout the whole of 1914. It is a remarkable insight to a small town assisting the war effort, reporting on its awful consequences, but at … Continue reading

Posted in Jim Bell's Wokingham History, Story of Wokingham | 1 Comment

Cecil and Ken in Conversation 1996. By Jim Bell

Jim Bell: “Cecil’s reminiscences are taken from three interviews by his old friend and historian, Ken Goatley. The first two were recorded on audio tape in 1996 when he described his life and reminisced about Wokingham during the first twenty-five … Continue reading

Posted in All Posts, Cecil Culver's Wokingham, Jim Bell's Wokingham History, The Ken Goatley Interviews | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The local historians who pointed to Wokingham’s Future

Edna Goatley passed away on Wednesday the 3rd April 2013 at the age 86 years. Her funeral takes place at Easthampstead Crematorium on Thursday 18th April at 11am. By Mike Churcher This is not an obituary, the Wokingham Times already … Continue reading

Posted in All Posts, Jim Bell's Wokingham History, Matters of Opinion, Story of Wokingham | Leave a comment

Another casualty of the Great War: Wokingham’s Mayor.

Our focus on the government of the Great War tends to be at national level, but Jim Bell’s extensive research has enabled us to look into local government from a Wokingham viewpoint. His latest book ‘Memories of the Town Hall’ … Continue reading

Posted in Aspects of War, Jim Bell's Wokingham History, Story of Wokingham | Leave a comment

1919 Victory ! Wokingham celebrates.

Local Historian, Jim Bell unearths this extensive coverage of Wokingham’s Armistice Celebrations: “On Saturday, Wokingham duly celebrated the peace. The proceedings commenced at 7 a.m., when peals were rung on the church bells. At 10 a.m. the town band commenced to … Continue reading

Posted in All Posts, Aspects of War, Jim Bell's Wokingham History | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

WW2 Garth: Wokingham’s Destroyer

Jim Bell provides us with a fascinating insight into Wokingham’s contribution to World War Two. Here we learn of how the local people raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to ‘sponsor’ HMS Garth throughout the latter part of the war. … Continue reading

Posted in All Posts, Articles on World War 2, Aspects of War, Jim Bell's Wokingham History | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Wokingham’s news from The Mercury 1913-1923

Jim Bell continues his journey to provide us with an overview of Wokingham during the 19th and 20th centuries. This time he visits the archives to extract  Wokingham’s news from old Reading Mercury newspapers. They go as far back as … Continue reading

Posted in All Posts, Aspects of War, Jim Bell's Wokingham History | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Wokingham News from Reading Mercury 1859-1868

Jim Bell continues his journey to provide us with an overview of Wokingham during the 19th and 20th centuries. This time he visits the archives to extract  Wokingham’s news from old Reading Mercury newspapers. They go as far back as … Continue reading

Posted in All Posts, Jim Bell's Wokingham History | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Hills Nicholson family: Four sons lost in two World Wars

The Nicholson family have no Wokingham street or building named after them and have sunk below the consciousness of today’s local community. In the 1800’s however, they lived in what is now the Cantley House Hotel and they invested in … Continue reading

Posted in All Posts, Aspects of War, Jim Bell's Wokingham History, Story of Wokingham | Tagged , , | 1 Comment